Research Plan

TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY

STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN SUMMARY

Contact Person: Dr. Elsie Froment


MAJOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Trinity Western University (TWU) has committed itself to the following measurable objectives:

  1. To create and nurture an academic environment that supports and promotes cutting edge research of both national and international significance.
  2. To assist a growing number of faculty members to undertake on-going, sustained programs of theoretical, empirical, and applied research.
  3. To encourage the development of research centres and clusters on campus, as well as the holding of research conferences, workshops, and symposia on campus that disseminate research results and develop research networks for our faculty.
  4. To support faculty in the development of collaborative research initiatives and projects with researchers in other universities.
  5. To foster and extend external research partnerships. Faculty are especially encouraged to build partnerships with public and private institutions and organizations in the region in order to strengthen regional research capacity.
  6. To promote equitable gender representation in faculty research, training of highly qualified personnel, and chair nominations;
  7. To develop sustainable institutional infrastructures to support the achievement of research objectives.


MAJOR RESEARCH THEMES

TWU strategically supports research by:

  1. Encouraging faculty to develop collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to research that enable them to pool limited resources and bring together diverse interests in a creative manner.
  2. Identifying research niches where TWU faculty can engage in innovative, internationally recognized research that maximizes limited resources.

With this strategy in mind, TWU has identified six primary research themes:

1. Interdisciplinary Studies in Religion, Culture and Ethics:

The theme of "Religion as Social Capital: Interdisciplinary Studies of Religion, Culture and Ethics" has been a productive focus for TWU scholars. Because this theme is central to the identity of the University, over the next three years we will continue to develop and extend interdisciplinary studies in religion as social capital.

2. Texts and the Historical Development of Judaism and Early Christianity:

TWU has had a number of internationally renowned scholars doing research on the historical, sociological and cultural context of Jewish and Christian religious texts. The member scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute, the Septuagint Institute and the holder of the Reuben J. Swanson Chair in New Testament Textual Criticism, Hermeneutics, and Greek Studies and their students collaborate with colleagues around the world in groundbreaking research projects. TWU is developing a proposal for a PhD program in Biblical and Theological Studies to retain these researchers in Canada, provide greater opportunity to developing scholars to biblical and theological studies, and ensure the continued strength of the university in this niche area.

3. Biotechnology

Because of the smaller size of the University and limited research facilities, TWU has focused on attracting a cluster of researchers within three specific areas of research related to biotechnology: medical biotechnology, synthetic chemistry, and plant chemical ecology. The faculty undertaking research in these areas have developed a number of collaborative relationships with researchers at other universities and within the biotechnology industry. Their research projects and resource requirements are increasingly being supported by national research grants.

4. Health and Its Determinants

The purpose of this research theme is to provide an infrastructure for interdisciplinary research about personal, social and environmental determinants that contribute to disparities in health status and access to health care services. The theme promotes research underway in the history, development, and cultural bias of health-related policies and practices, social and environmental determinants of health and wellness, and individual factors affecting physical and psychological health status.

5. Societal Engagement

This emerging research theme emphasizes the interaction between theory and practice, and the professional/applied scholarship that emerges from the engagement of TWU researchers with NGOs, not-for-profit organizations, and public institutions. It is expected that this scholarly work will be characterized by collaborative teamwork, community engagement or participation, interdisciplinarity, and knowledge generated for multiple audiences. This research will contribute to the forging of new relationships, unique forums, and new genres of publication.

6. Ecosystem Health and Dynamics

TWU is gifted with a rich land base for ecosystem studies including both the Ecosystem Study Area (ESA) in Langley, BC and the TWU Crow's Nest Ecological Research Area (CNERA) on Salt Spring Island. Areas of study in which TWU ecosystem researchers are increasingly forming collaborations, winning grants, publishing articles, and involving students in research and publication include endangered species, community ecology and restoration, environmental history and policy, and spatial dynamics.

OUTCOMES AND ASSESSMENT

The Strategic Research Plan includes specific criteria for evaluating the progress of the major strategic objectives above. The criteria form a framework for both research strategic planning and recordkeeping for ongoing assessment of research activities.

PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

The Strategic Research Plan is administered by the Dean of Academic Research. It is reviewed annually by a faculty committee and revised every three years in a consultative process involving all faculty members, academic administrators, and central advisory and approval bodies.

May 2003; Revised 2005, 2007, 2008.

 

 

Research Plan Details

TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY

STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN


Contact Person: Dr. Elsie Froment


MAJOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Trinity Western University (TWU) has committed itself to the following measurable objectives:

  1. To create and nurture an academic environment that supports and promotes cutting edge research of both national and international significance.
  2. To assist a growing number of faculty members to undertake on-going, sustained programs of theoretical, empirical, and applied research.
  3. To encourage the development of research centres and clusters on campus, as well as the holding of research conferences, workshops, and symposia on campus that disseminate research results and develop research networks for our faculty.
  4. To support faculty in the development of collaborative research initiatives and projects with researchers in other universities.
  5. To foster and extend external research partnerships. Faculty are especially encouraged to build partnerships with public and private institutions in the region in order to strengthen regional research capacity.
  6. To promote equitable gender representation in faculty research, training of highly qualified personnel, and chair nominations;
  7. To develop sustainable institutional infrastructures to support the achievement of research objectives.


MAJOR RESEARCH THEMES

TWU strategically supports research by:

  1. Encouraging faculty to develop collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to research that enable them to pool limited resources and bring together diverse interests in a creative manner.
  2. Identifying research niches where TWU faculty can engage in innovative, internationally recognized research that maximizes limited resources.

With this strategy in mind, TWU has identified six primary research themes:

1. Interdisciplinary Studies in Religion, Culture and Ethics:

The theme of "Religion as Social Capital: Interdisciplinary Studies of Religion, Culture and Ethics" has been a productive focus in the following areas:

  1. The formative role of religion in the shaping of society and culture;
  2. How religious perspectives can inform legal and ethical dimensions of great public interest, including issues such as social injustice and inequality, gender equality, euthanasia, reproductive technology, etc.;
  3. The relationship between spiritual values and physical and mental well-being;
  4. Religion as a protective factor in dealing with addiction, drug abuse, and other anti-social behaviour;
  5. Christianity's relationship to other religions and cultures, especially in situations of societal conflict and ethnic diversity;
  6. The influence of religion and spirituality on leadership and human resource development.

A TWU scholar holds a Tier Two Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion, and Culture. Twelve TWU scholars from diverse disciplines have established the Religion in Canada Institute to research the multifaceted role of religion in Canada for culture, individuals, and social institutions. Because this theme is central to the identity of the University, over the next three years we will continue to develop the above interdisciplinary studies in religion, culture and interpretation and extend them to:

  1. The relationship between globalization and religion, especially religious responses to globalization.
  2. The influence of religion on public education and spiritually informed teaching and learning practices.
  3. The relationship between spiritual values and artistic creativity.
  4. The congregation as a local site of significant religious and social process.

2. Texts and the Historical Development of Judaism and Early Christianity:

Since its founding, TWU has had a number of scholars doing research on the historical, sociological and cultural context of Jewish and Christian religious texts. In the early 1990s, the university appointed several key scholars specializing in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This allowed the University to focus its limited resources on a key area of research where it has been able to establish a strong international reputation. In 1995, the University inaugurated the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute, the first of its kind outside of Europe and Israel. Since then, the Institute has acquired the largest collection of primary Greek manuscripts in North America and brought world-class specialists to its symposia from North America, Europe, and Israel. Scholars of the Institute have been involved in the publication of grounding breaking material on the Dead Sea Scrolls and have been invited to participate as editors in the official publication of the scrolls by the Oxford University Press. A number of students in the MA in Biblical Studies have also produced theses on the Dead Sea Scrolls that are ground breaking in nature. Researchers associated with the Institute have been successful in attracting both SSHRC funding and significant support from private donors. A TWU Religious Studies scholar holds a Tier One Canada Research Chair in Dead Sea Scrolls.

In 2005, the University established the Septuagint Institute. The Septuagint is the Old Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. This new version of the Bible was the one studied by the Hellenistic Jews and, subsequently, Greek-speaking Christians, including the authors of the New Testament. TWU has the largest concentration of Septuagintalists at any university in North America, all collaborating with colleagues around the world in cutting edge research projects including: Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum, the series that produces critical editions of the original Greek version of the Jewish Scriptures, the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NES), the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint, the Hexpla project which involves the gathering of all extant textual data for an influential third century A.D. recension of the Septuagint, and an online Greek lexical and bibliographical database relating to the Greek words of the Septuagint. These projects have been supported by research funding from various agencies including SSHRC. The Septuagint Institute also fosters international dialogue and collaboration by sponsoring conferences (2005, 2006, 2008) that bring together scholars and graduate students from various parts of the world to focus on topics that reflect current research in the discipline.

Research foci within the discipline of Septuagint Studies include:

  1. Text-critical issues in both Greek and underlying Hebrew texts;
  2. The varieties of translation technique within the Septuagint;
  3. The Septuagint documents as linguistic artifacts of the 3rd - 2nd century B.C.;
  4. The reception history of the Septuagint and its ongoing influence with respect to history of biblical interpretation;
  5. The impact of the Septuagint on the development of Judaism and Christianity.

In addition, in 2007, the Reuben J. Swanson Chair in New Testament Textual Criticism, Hermeneutics, and Greek Studies was established at TWU to examine the process of transmission of texts and those texts around which certain Christian communities constructed theology.

TWU is developing a proposal for a PhD program in Biblical and Theological Studies to retain these researchers in Canada, provide greater opportunity to developing scholars to biblical and theological studies, and ensure the continued strength of the university in this niche area.

3. Biotechnology

Because of the smaller size of the University and limited research facilities, TWU has focused on attracting a cluster of researchers within specific areas of research related to biotechnology. The University has identified three areas of research within biotechnology that it will support through the development of its institutional research capacity. These areas are:

  1. Medical biotechnology: focusing on developmental genetics, functional genomics and cell biology. These studies have relevance to human diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders. Techniques may be interdisciplinary, including, for instance, statistical analysis and mining of data on cell abnormalities and diseases.
  2. Synthetic chemistry: focusing on industrial catalytic systems utilizing biphase separation technology as swell as asymmetric catalysis. The findings in this area of research have important implications drug synthesis.
  3. Plant Chemical ecology: focusing on the development of natural pesticides for use in sustainable agriculture systems. The studies in this area have potential to make a significant contribution to the development of a more environmentally sustainable approach to agricultural production.

The faculty undertaking research in these areas have already developed a number of collaborative relationships with researchers at other universities and within the biotechnology industry. In order to ensure that they can continue to build on the research that they have begun, the University successfully applied for CFI funding for the development of new microscopy laboratory. The laboratory was launched in Fall 2007 in conjunction with the Inaugural Lecture of TWU's Tier Two Canada Research Chair in Developmental Genetics and Disease.

4. Health and Its Determinants

The purpose of this research theme is to provide an infrastructure for interdisciplinary research about personal, social and environmental determinants that contribute to disparities in health status and access to health care services. This includes research pertaining to the following areas:

  1. The history, development, and cultural bias of health-related policies and practices;
  2. Social and environmental determinants of health and wellness;
  3. Individual factors affecting physical and psychological health status.

Health is understood as encompassing physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. Determinants of health include personal health practices, capacity and coping skills, social and environmental living conditions, and broader historical and structural factors such as class (income and education), gender, ethnicity, the education of service providers (including health care professionals), and the delivery of health care services (including organizational and community planning).

This research theme recognizes and expands existing research initiatives and grant funding, including that from SSHRC and CIHR, in the following areas:

  1. Intersections between spirituality, religion and culture in the contexts of health and illness;
  2. Epidemiological health;
  3. Human services;
  4. Student health and wellness;
  5. Health and social services professional education;
  6. The development of health care environments that specifically target geriatric populations;
  7. Promotion of positive growth and optimal levels of functioning in health and wellness.

The theme will facilitate existing and prospective collaborations with private and public health care service providers.

5. Societal Engagement

This emerging research theme emphasizes the interaction between theory and practice, and the professional/applied scholarship that emerges from the engagement of TWU researchers with NGOs, not-for-profit organizations, and public institutions. It is expected that this scholarly work will be characterized by collaborative teamwork, community engagement or participation, interdisciplinarity, and knowledge generated for multiple audiences. This scholarship focuses on the following areas:

  1. Those issues that contribute to society through the collaborative development of models or systems.
  2. Social processes that are of specific use to NGOs, not-for-profit organizations, and public organizations.
  3. Action and evaluation research systematically examining professional/applied engagement activities.

The knowledge generated through this scholarship will enrich communities, enhance learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and expand the reach of a discipline or professional practice. This research also will contribute to the forging of new relationships, unique forums, and new genres of publication. Contexts for this research at TWU include:

  1. The executive MBA program focus on not-for-profit management (only MBA program in Canada with this focus).
  2. Human services program relationships with social service providers.
  3. Education program partnerships with schools, school districts, and the ministry of education..
  4. Global educational initiatives.
  5. Health authority and private health care provider collaborations.

6. Ecosystem Health and Dynamics

TWU is gifted with a rich land base for ecosystem studies including both the Ecosystem Study Area (ESA) in Langley, BC and the TWU Crow's Nest Ecological Research Area (CNERA) on Salt Spring Island. The ESA includes a variety of habitats including second growth forest, riparian areas, wetlands and meadows covering approximately 60 acres, and there is an additional TWU property constituting 57 acres nearby likewise used for environmental research. CNERA is 70 acres in size and includes several Garry oak meadows and coniferous forest, and access to marine environments. Endangered species and other species of concern occur on both sites, and these sites provide innumerable opportunities for studying environmental restoration. Areas of study in which TWU ecosystem researchers are increasingly forming collaborations, winning grants, publishing articles, and involving students in research and publication include:

  1. Endangered species.
  2. Community ecology and restoration.
  3. Environmental history and policy.
  4. Spatial dynamics.

The first detailed studies ever conducted of the rare Oregon forestsnail found on university land are being made by a team of Trinity researchers. An endangered species of butterfly is being studied on Trinity's research property on Salt Spring Island. In collaboration with UBC, critical issues in Garry oak ecosystem dynamics are also being investigated on Salt Spring Island. They include projects such as, the role of invasive species both plant and animal, dynamics of the boundaries between endangered Garry oak ecosystems and coniferous forests, and the environmental history of Garry oak meadows in the southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia. All of these studies are undergirded by critical faculty expertise in areas such as invasive species ecology, geographic information systems, chemical ecology, dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) and autecology (ecology of the individual organism).
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OUTCOMES AND ASSESSMENT

Success in meeting the objectives outlined in this plan will be assessed by the following criteria:

  1. Increased number of faculty grant applications to external funding agencies and an increased success rate among these applicants.
  2. Increased participation rate of TWU faculty in peer reviewed scholarship, higher citation rates in internationally recognized journals, and increased number of academic conference invitations.
  3. Increased number of on campus research institutes, symposia, workshops, and conferences highlighting the research of TWU faculty.
  4. Increased participation of undergraduate and graduate students in faculty research projects.
  5. Increased number of TWU students being awarded scholarships/fellowships for graduate study.
  6. Increased collaborative partnerships with public and private institutions.
  7. Increased equitable gender representation in research, training of highly qualified personnel and chair nominations.
  8. Demonstrable development of research infrastructures which support the achievement of research objectives in accordance with Canadian best practices.

PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

The development and periodic revision of the TWU Strategic Research Plan is a consultative process involving all faculty members, academic administrators, and central advisory and approval bodies. The Strategic Research Plan emerged as a result of a broader process for the development of the Trinity Western University Academic Strategic Goals 2000-2005. This plan was based on extensive consultation with faculty and academic administrators. The final academic strategic plan was approved by the Deans' Council, the President's Cabinet, and the University's Board of Governors. This was followed by further consultations with the Deans' Council, after the Deans consulted within their own Faculties or Schools, to identify pertinent research themes. The plan is administered by the Dean of Academic Research and reviewed annually by a faculty committee. Each of the research plan is subject to revision and approval by the academic stakeholders and central advisory and approval bodies every three years..

May 2003; Revised 2005, 2007, 2008.